1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a print controller and to an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the conventional art, when the paper information for a designated job does not match the paper information pertaining to the paper housed in the paper supply cassette in an image forming apparatus such as a printer, the apparatus is stopped so that a period of time may be secured during which paper can be loaded that matches the paper information for the designated job.
However, using the conventional construction, the apparatus is stopped when the paper information mismatch described above occurs, and therefore, the image forming operation for the jobs subsequently received is delayed for as long as the apparatus is held on hold, resulting in a reduced operation rate for the apparatus. At the same time, if image formation for the next jobs in the queue is carried out when the mismatch of paper information occurs, the timing for paper exchange may be lost.
For example, the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications Hei 10-17168 and Hei 9-314925 disclose a construction in which, when the paper information for the job and the paper information pertaining to the paper supply inlet are different, jobs that match the paper supply inlet paper information are processed first, but the timing for setting the appropriate paper is also lost in this case.
For example, where A4-size paper is housed in a first paper supply cassette that can house paper up to A3 size, and A4-size paper is housed in a second paper supply cassette that is dedicated to A4-size paper, a print job that uses A3-size paper cannot be printed. If a job that uses A4-size paper is located in the queue in this state, printing for that job is first performed using the A4-size paper in the first cassette. Consequently, the timing to load A3-size paper in the first cassette is lost, and as a result, the job that uses A3-size paper cannot be executed for a long time.